


Well Suited, Wide Eyed & Too Good For This World

by LandOfMistAndSecrets



Category: Octopath Traveler (Video Game)
Genre: Eventual Happy Ending, F/F, M/M, Miscommunication, Misunderstandings, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Pining
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-08
Updated: 2018-10-08
Packaged: 2019-07-28 04:19:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16234067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LandOfMistAndSecrets/pseuds/LandOfMistAndSecrets
Summary: You know what they say when you make assumptions.





	Well Suited, Wide Eyed & Too Good For This World

Alfyn stood slouched against a thick stone railing overlooking the ocean, watching the sun sink into the waves. The rough surface of the rail dug into his elbows, and the glare of light off the water was almost painfully bright, but the breeze off the shore was pleasant enough, and from here, he could keep an eye on Ellen and Flynn. The girls were combing the beach together, the hems of their little dresses soaked with seawater. Occasionally, the breeze would carry the sound of their giggling and delighted squeals -- at one point, Flynn fair screeched for her sister, while holding a coral pink starfish overhead -- and Alfyn couldn't help but laugh to himself. 

Things had felt... heavy, lately, but when he stood here like this... 

He heard footsteps approaching along the walk, light and accompanied by a familiar swish of skirts. Ophilia joined him at the rail a moment later. She crossed her hands atop the stone and stood straight-backed beside him, and with Alfyn slouching the way he was they were almost of a height. 

"Any news from the Archbishop?" Alfyn asked. 

Ophilia's brow wrinkled, telling him before she even spoke that the answer wouldn't be ideal. "There is something odd happening, here," she said. "It's all apologies and excuses, and something just feels... strange." She smiled, sadly. "At first, I thought it all a blessing in disguise. After all, if there hadn't been such a delay, would you have had the time to unmask that horrible Hysel woman's crimes?"

Alfyn shifted beside her, nodding. Below, Flynn and Ellen splashed in the shallows, hauling around twin pails half-full of sandy seashells. He hadn't meant to go uncovering any sinister conspiracies, not in a million years. He'd never imagined this journey of his pitting him up personally against other _people._ But then, until recently, it had never occurred to him that people could be so ... 

"She looks well," Ophilia said, softly, and she was talking about Flynn, but gentle concern for _him_ suffused every word. He forced the melancholy look off his face and tilted his face toward hers with a grin. 

"Her mother says she's right back to her old self again. Kids are like that, you know -- they bounce back fast, once you've got the root of the problem sorted out." 

"They're going to miss you terribly," Ophilia said, returning the smile with one of her own. "You'll have to promise them you'll visit whenever you can." 

"Don't I know it. This place isn't exactly a skip and a hop away, you know? Might be awhile before I can make it back..." 

"Mm," Ophilia nodded. "That being the case, I must wonder... why are you up here? I would think you would want to spend as much time with them as possible before we're off, again."

"Oh, I don't know." Alfyn stood straighter, clearing his throat. "I remember, when Zeph and I were their age -- the last thing we wanted was stuffy old adults mucking around ruining our fun." 

She laughed, and the glance she gave him was positively incredulous. "That may be so, but... and this may surprise you, so please do steel yourself, but..." she lowered her voice to a conspiratory whisper. "I was once their age, too," she said. 

He snorted. "You don't say." 

"Yes! It's true. And from _I_ remember, such frustrations were generally limited to adults we could be sure we would be seeing every day, or near enough, for all of what we knew of the future!" She nudged him gently with an elbow. "Come now. I'll go with you, if you like." 

Alfyn heaved a great big sigh and met her arched eyebrows with a sheepish look. "You don't have to do that," he said. "I guess I've just been feeling sort of..."

"Alfyn!" Ellen's voice, squealing up at them from below. She sounded positively delighted. "Alfyyyyn! Hey, Alfyn!" She was waving furiously with both arms, the wind whipping strands of hair that had escaped her braid around her tiny, freckled face. 

"Oh, dear," Ophilia said. "It would seem that you've been found out." 

"Seems like it," he nodded. 

Down on the beach, Flynn dropped her bucket in the sand beside her sister's and started waving, too. Her voice gusted up to them on the breeze. "Come play with us!" 

"Well," he said, waving back at them. He couldn't help but smile. "I guess you're welcome to come along, if you don't mind possibly ruining those nice robes of yours." 

"They wouldn't be the first set to meet a questionable fate, on this journey," she smiled, gesturing for him to lead the way. "But you might be surprised. They're very durable." 

"With the sorts of things you get up to, I guess they sort of have to be, huh?" 

"Now, just what is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothin' at all," Alfyn winked at her, and then he hustled down the long steps cut into the cliffside, skipping every third stair. Ophilia's exasperated exhalation at his back and the exuberant cheering of the twins had him grinning for real, now, feeling better than he had in days -- and that was something, at least. 

*

Therion had seated himself between two stone crenellations on the city wall facing the shore, back against the stone, with his arms and legs both crossed. He'd been sitting there for hours, in fact, enjoying the solitude and the relative quiet. That he had a vantage point on certain members of his traveling party hadn't factored into the decision at all. He snuck off in cities like this to get _away_ from them, after all. 

So when he heard the unmistakable sound of someone climbing up after him, it was hard to disguise his dismay. 

"Why, hello," Prim greeted him, her head poking up over the lip of the edge. She'd found the same path up he had -- maybe even watched him climb it, knowing her. He grunted at her noncommittally, sliding over just a bit not because he was inviting her company, but because he knew her well enough by now to know she'd sit on top of him, if she had to. She finished the climb and slid in across from him, casually as you please. "Fancy meeting a gentleman like you in a place like this." 

"Very funny," Therion said, voice flat. 

"Oh? Don't be so hard on yourself. I've seen rougher boys than you cleaned up into something that at least... _passes_ for gentlemanly, before." She flashed him a winsome smile, back against the opposite column. She stretched her legs out beside his, crossing one over the other, an exact mirror of his current pose. "It's not impossible." 

He decided to change tactics. "What are you doing up here," he demanded.

"Certainly not anything exciting or nefarious, like you." 

It was bait, and he knew it was, but he took it anyway, like he knew _she_ knew he would. Infuriating. "What's so nefarious about what I'm doing, right now? Or exciting, for that matter." 

"Why don't you tell me? I was hoping to catch you counting out a dazzling amount of ill-gotten treasure, seeing as how you've had plenty of time to chart the lay of the land here, so to speak." 

"Sorry to disappoint." 

"Oh, no. What you _actually_ appear to be doing is much more interesting, so please don't apologize." 

He sighed at her. She grinned at him. He hunched his shoulders and dropped his eyes, frowning. "Okay. So go ahead and tell me, then -- what do you think I'm actually doing." 

"Two things. The first, of course, is spying on our dear companions, down there. Aren't they cute? Digging for seashells with the girls, how sweet." 

"And the second?" 

"You're not even going to deny it!" Prim clapped her hands together, plainly delighted. 

"I just want to know how imaginative you've gotten, before I start arguing against all this made up bullshit." 

"Of _course._ Well, the second thing you're doing, obviously, is brooding terribly about the first thing!" 

He rolled his eyes. "Is that so." 

"Tell me I'm wrong." 

"You're wrong." 

"With _feeling_ , Therion, you have to make it believable." 

He growled at her. "You're wrong," he repeated, in exactly the same tone. 

She waved an airy, dismissive gesture, all the bangles on her wrist jangling with the movement. "I can see why you might be a little put out. Ophilia seems quite taken with our apothecary friend, doesn't she?" 

He laughed. She raised her eyebrows. He looked away from her, fixing his gaze on the tiny figures down at the beach, instead. Alfyn and Ophilia and the little girls. "Is that what you think this is about?" 

"I'll admit, I could be wrong." She tilted her head. "Perhaps I have it backwards?" 

"Maybe you're just projecting," Therion said. Prim sucked in a little breath, and Therion saw her eyes widen a little out of the corner of his eye. Good. 

"I assure you, _I_ have no designs on Alfyn whatsoever." 

"And Ophilia?" 

Silence. 

He turned back to stare at her, eyebrows raised. 

"You're not entirely wrong," she shrugged. "What can I say? Maybe I climbed up here after you to commiserate." 

"Well..." he dropped his eyes. It was strange. She was the one in the more vulnerable position, here, but for some reason, he felt like he was the one being dangled out to dry. He coughed. "Sorry. Guess you'll have to chase after H'aanit, instead." 

"So you _do_ think there's something to it," she murmured. 

He frowned. "So?" 

"So you've been thinking about it." 

"It's... kind of hard not to _notice._ They're...." he waved a hand. "You know. The wide-eyed, too good for this world sort of benevolent idiot thing they have going on, together." 

Primrose laughed, wagging a finger at him in rebuke. "Don't be mean," she said, eyes sparkling. 

"It can't be mean if it's true." 

"Oh, yes it can. In fact, I think the true things can often be the absolute _meanest_ , and you know that perfectly well." She looked out over toward the beach. "...They _do_ seem suited. Look at them. Playing house with the girls and everything." 

"Yeah. How are you with kids, Prim?" 

"Awful. You?" 

"What do you think?" 

"I think we might be commiserating after all, whether you like it or not, Mister Master Thief." 

"In that case, it was pretty rude of you not to bring drinks," he said.

She pressed a hand to her chest, just over her heart, feigning horror. "Gods, you are _so_ right," she said. "It won't happen again. Next time, I'll bring the wine. No need for glasses. We'll just pass it back and forth like the broken-hearted louses we are." 

"Next time," he scoffed, shaking his head. "I don't think so." 

She just smiled at him. 

Infuriating.

**Author's Note:**

> Not 100% set in stone, but I think this will follow Ophilia's chapter 3 & 4\. Rating will probably go up because I know who I am. 
> 
> In the meantime, you can find me on Tumblr here: [@sealticge](http://sealticge.tumblr.com)


End file.
